CH 103

Shen Huan looked worn from travel; she was at the manor gate, barred from entry by several servants.

She was so anxious that her beard was about to fly off her face. She charged toward the gate and continued to shout.

“Disciple! Disciple! Shen Shijiu! Shen Shijiu?!”

“Stop screaming, you can’t just meet with him whenever you please. We must first inform him of your arrival, and you may enter only if he allows it.”

Those servants were sticklers for the rules. Shen Huan couldn’t squeeze past them at all.

At this moment, she suddenly saw a figure rushing out of the manor.  It sprinted all the way to the gate and jumped into Shen Huan’s arms. The figure hugged her tightly and showed no signs of letting go.

“Shifu, shifu, you finally came, where have you been, I couldn’t find you anywhere!”

Shen Shijiu looked very pitiful, as if he had suffered immeasurable grievances; his eyes were already red.

Li Yu had come along as well. He waved to dismiss the servants.

Shen Huan patted Shen Shijiu’s back, “Aiyo, my good disciple, what’s wrong, who bullied you? Were you wronged? Tell shifu, I’d like to see who has the guts to do such a thing!”

Shen Huan saw that Shen Shijiu’s palm was bandaged with gauze, and also found that his little face seemed to be thinner, his chin a bit sharper. Her heart immediately began to ache.

Truthfully, during the past few days, she hadn’t gone anywhere else; she had taken a trip to the foreign tribe.

After the day when she had sent Shen Shijiu into the palace, Shen Huan had been trying to find out his whereabouts. When she learned that he had been accepted by the Imperial Hospital as an apprentice, she intended to find a way to get him out of the palace immediately.

But, unfortunately, the foreign tribe had sent a letter urging her to return, saying that there was an epidemic within the population, and that the situation was serious.

Shen Huan could only let Shen Shijiu stay in the palace for the time being, and rushed all the way to the foreign tribe’s territory. When she returned to the foreign tribe, Shen Huan figured something out; originally, her little disciple, the former Prince Qi Changyi, was actually also of foreign descent.

His Mother Consort was a foreigner; she and Shen Huan were related by blood, which would make her Qi Changyi’s maternal aunt.

Qi Changyi had visited the foreign tribe with his mother once in the past. Shen Huan had met him during that time, and had even cradled that white, jade-like little kid in her arms.

At that time, that baby’s head didn’t even reach her knees. He followed Shen Huan around, shouting “Auntie”, which made Shen Huan hug someone else’s son all day long, and plant kisses all over his soft, milk-scented little cheeks.

Later, when the child and his mother were about to leave to return to the palace, Shen Huan cried for a long time because she couldn’t bear to let him go.

No wonder she had felt that sense of inexplicable familiarity with him when they first met. So it had been their faint blood relationship that had given her this feeling.

The two hugged for a long time at the manor gate; even Li Yu, who was watching at the side, was beginning to feel that it was a bit inappropriate.

Even if they shared a close relationship as master and disciple, they didn’t, they didn’t have to be so affectionate.

“Ahem. And you are? What should I call you?”

Only then did Shen Huan remember that there was someone else standing at the side.

“My family name is Shen.”

“Master Shen, you look like you’ve come a long way; how about you come into the manor to have some tea?” Li Yu asked politely.

However, Shen Huan stood at the gate and swept her gaze over her surroundings, her eyes vigilant. This seemed to be the dignified, majestic home of an influential official, but the courtyard looked so lifeless, and there weren’t any living things in it; it was so gloomy and oppressive that it made one uncomfortable.

“No need for that, I only came to pick up my disciple. Now that I have him, we won’t disturb the servants of the manor any longer.”

Shen Huan said, before she grabbed Shen Shijiu and turned to leave.

In a fit of anxiousness, Li Yu grabbed Shen Shijiu’s other arm.

The three people formed a chain in front of the manor gate. The two people at the ends both had no intentions of letting go, and Shen Shijiu, who was in the middle, looked at his shifu, then at Li Yu, then back at his shifu, and still had no clue what was going on.

“Master Shen, you can leave, but he cannot.”

Shen Huan said, “What’s that supposed to mean? My disciple is someone from the Imperial Hospital, not a servant of your manor. That Imperial Physician Jiang from the Imperial Hospital already agreed to let him go, which is why I came, so why won’t you let him leave?”

Li Yu frowned, that darn Imperial Physician Jiang, purposely making things difficult for His Lordship again. He knew that His Lordship was deliberately keeping Shen Shijiu by his side, and yet he still let him go.

“W-whether you like it or not, he cannot leave before His Lordship returns. Master Shen, if you continue to insist on taking him away, then you shouldn’t even think about leaving this place.” A few servants appeared from behind Li Yu at this moment; they seemed prepared to snatch Shen Shijiu back at any time, and even capture Shen Huan as well.

Shen Huan rolled her eyes, but she immediately let go of Shen Shijiu’s arm and smiled, “If that’s the case, then I guess I don’t have a choice. Let’s go inside and have some tea then.”

As she spoke, Shen Huan stepped into the manor without any sense of unease, as though it were her own home.

Li Yu was still holding onto Shen Shijiu’s arm, as though he still feared that someone would snatch him away.

A wing room was prepared for Shen Huan.

In truth, no matter what the atmosphere in the manor was like, at least they didn’t have to worry about food and drink. There was also a huge group of sharp-eyed servants to serve them, so she was rather glad to have accepted the offer.

Shen Huan first went to the back garden with Shen Shijiu and toured the little pavilion. The rest of the servants left, leaving only the pair of master and disciple to rest in the little pavilion.

“Not bad, not bad, the place where my disciple lives is a lot better than your Master’s quarters.”

Shen Shijiu said, “Shifu, how about I ask Housekeeper Li to let me move into the wing and live with you? This place is too big for me to live in by myself, I get scared at night…”

Shen Huan tapped his head with her hand, “Silly disciple, that Lord Pei put you in such a nice place, and even sent the housekeeper to personally watch over you. The way I see it, he’s probably…”

Shen Huan’s expression suddenly changed, “You haven’t taken off your mask, right?”

Shen Shijiu shook his head, “I didn’t, shifu. Did you forget that I need to apply a special solution before I can take it off?”

Shen Huan was still uneasy. She reached out and traced his pointy little chin with her fingers, checking carefully.

Fortunately, the mask was still firmly attached, and the edges were still perfectly fused with the skin; it had never been taken off.

But Shen Huan took a closer look at Shen Shijiu’s facial features and skin, and found that there was a small issue with this mask; it had been worn for too long, so it had become thinner than before.

Although outsiders couldn’t tell, Shen Huan still decided that she would make a new mask for Shen Shijiu, to avoid future problems.

Shen Huan told Li Yu that she wanted to make medicine; she was hoping to find out if the Prime Minister’s Manor had good ingredients she could use.

She didn’t expect Li Yu to lead her straight to a pharmaceutical room, which was stocked to the brim with a rich array of medicinal ingredients. There were also many rare, extremely expensive1 herbs, the kind that Shen Huan had been coveting for a long time but had been reluctant to buy.

The Prime Minister’s Manor was rich and powerful indeed; the people here could present all these precious herbs to her without batting an eye. Shen Huan dreamt up the notion that she should simply live here with her disciple forever.

Taking advantage of Li Yu’s departure, Shen Huan quickly stuffed several pieces of ginseng into her cuffs, and shoved two snow lotuses into the front of her robe.

Shen Shijiu stood at the door of the pharmaceutical room and watched as Shen Huan jumped and pranced with joy. He found it weird, and asked, “Shifu, what kind of medicine are you making?”

Only then did Shen Huan remember what she had come here for. She grabbed several different ingredients and began to busy herself.

“Disciple, come here and help me.”

Shen Shijiu obediently walked in and began to assist Shen Huan. The pair of master and disciple busied themselves for a long while and made two different solutions.

Shen Huan pointed at the two bottles and said, “Apply the stuff in this bottle first, then this bottle, and then wait for about an hour. The mask will fall off by itself, and then your real face will be exposed, and then…”

Before she could finish speaking, a servant hurried over to the door of the pharmaceutical room, and Shen Huan walked out to see what the issue was. 

“Master Shen! Guard Feng is back from the palace, he’s saying that he needs to bring Young Master Shen to the palace!”

Shen Huan’s gaze changed, “He wants to take Shihiu to the place? Where is this Guard Feng now?

“He’s waiting in the front garden.”

Shen Huan didn’t tell Shen Shijiu immediately. She followed the servant to the garden to see what was going on.

Shen Shijiu was alone in the pharmaceutical room. He kept his shifu‘s words in mind.

“First apply, this one…” He picked up one of the bottles of solution, and rubbed it all over his face.

“Then apply, this one…” Then he used the same method to apply the second solution.

After he was finished, Shen Shijiu touched his cheeks, but didn’t feel that anything was different.

At this moment, Shen Huan returned from the front garden; her expression carried a hint of dismay. She called out to Shen Shiijiu, saying that they were leaving, and led him out to the front garden. Before handing him over to Cheng Feng, she gave him a few instructions.

“They’re saying that, because the Empress didn’t see you, she flew into a rage, and even called the Emperor over. Now they’re just waiting for you to go to the palace so they can confront you in person. But Disciple, you don’t need to be afraid, just be honest.”

Shen Shijiu obediently nodded, and followed Cheng Feng out of the manor gate.

Before they left, Cheng Feng assured Shen Huan, “Master Shen, please don’t worry, His Lordship will ensure Young Master Shen’s safe return.”

Shen Huan looked at him and nodded.

Shen Shijiu stepped into the sedan, and the group rushed toward the royal palace.

Although Shen Huan was very uneasy, she could only choose to trust Pei Zheng for the time being; there was no other option.

Shen Huan returned to her pharmaceutical room, and prepared to continue making the medicine. But when she saw the two empty bottles on the table, she froze.

She looked everywhere for a long while, but still couldn’t find where the solution had spilled. Then, Shen Huan recalled something, and her expression morphed.

“Damn it!”

***

The moment they entered the palace, Shen Shijiu followed Cheng Feng to the Empress’s residence and waited outside.

There were many maids and eunuchs standing there. Shen Shijiu also stood at the side with his head bowed.

His fingers clutched his sleeves; his mind was full of panic, and he had no clue what he was supposed to do. Although he didn’t lie, what would he do if Her Highness the Empress didn’t believe him? And His Majesty was in there too, which terrified Shen Shijiu even more.

The door to the residence was opened, and a maid led Shen Shijiu inside.

This residence was extremely large; the inside was bright and spacious. They still had to walk a bit to reach the Empress’s quarters.

That maid led Shen Shijiu to a side hall.

“Please wait here for a moment.”

That maid walked out of the side hall.

Shen Shijiu was still standing at the door of the side hall and was not at all in the mood to sit down. His mind was full of terror and nervousness.

After waiting for a while, the sound of footsteps came from outside. Then, a tall shadow stood in front of the door to the side hall.

Shen Shijiu stared fixedly at the door until it opened, and Pei Zheng’s figure was revealed. Only then did Shen Shijiu blurt out:

“My Lord!”

Notes

THE REVEAL IS SO CLOSE

My sincerest apologies for the late update! I PROMISE THIS DOESN’T MEAN I’M DROPPING THIS NOVEL-

Anyway, this little three-day pause thing (probably) won’t happen again. And me uploading this at 6pm probably won’t happen again either. If I go missing for more than a week without notice though, you’ll know that something terrible happened to me >口< Since my exams will be over by the end of next week, we will (hopefully) resume a faster release schedule!

Thank you for your understanding, and thanks for reading~

1.价值千金 (jià zhí qiān jīn): ‘worth a thousand gold taels’